Israel attempted to turn the U.S. and Russia around on their plans for a ceasefire in southern Syria at two top-level, clandestine meetings held last month over the continued presence of Iranian forces and Lebanese militia Hezbollah in the war-torn country.
Haaretz reported that the U.S. and Russia held a series of secret meetings with Israel in early July, meeting in the Jordanian capital Amman and in one unnamed European capital city to discuss the plans for the establishment of safe zones in Syria. The partial ceasefire was announced by President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Hamburg just days later.
Israeli officials and Western diplomats said under condition of anonymity that Israel's representatives at the secret summits included senior officials from the Israeli Foreign Ministry, Defense Ministry, Mossad and the Israel Defense Forces. Michael Ratney and Brett McGurk, Trumps special envoys on Syria, led the U.S. negotiators and Alexander Lavrentiev, Putins Syria envoy led the Russian team.
A senior Israeli official said the draft of the United States and Russias plans were met with shock. The agreement made no mention of Irans presence in Syria, or mentioned Hezbollah or the Islamic Republic once, to Israel's surprise.
On 16 July Israels Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu came out publicly against the ceasefire, reiterating that it provided Iran a foothold in Syria.
Both Iran and the U.S. are working to degrade ISIS in Syria, but the U.S. role is limited to special forces on the ground and a coalition of air forces bombing the jihadi group from above. Washington and Tehran rarely recognize the role of the other in combating the threat of ISIS and are avoiding any escalation between the two militaries.
